


Share A Coke With Your Soulmate

by TheStarsArentReal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Artist Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Deaf Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Multi, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Online Friendship, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Platonic Soulmates, Slow Burn, everyone has a different way to find their soulmate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-08-26 19:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16687558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStarsArentReal/pseuds/TheStarsArentReal
Summary: There are a million ways to find your soulmate. For Lance, that means that whenever his soulmate marked on themself, it appeared on Lance's skin. For Keith, who was born deaf, it means that everytime his soulmate hears music, he hears it too.When Keith ages out of the foster system and goes to live with Shiro, an old foster brother, and finish high school with his best friend who he met online, Pidge, he meets Lance, one of said friend's best friends. Who immediately pegs Keith as his rival. He can't stand the guy, but maybe they have more in common than they think.





	1. Boys Suck

There are a million ways to find your soulmate. Lance’s parents, for instance, are connected by an invisible red string that only they can see. His oldest brother, Luis, couldn’t see color until the first time he touched his soulmate, and in turn, his soulmate and now husband, Jake, has the first words Luis spoke to him tattooed on his wrist. Luis and Jake’s kids, twins named Rosalia and Emilio, are platonic soulmates who can hear one another’s thoughts, which only serves to make them that much more troublesome, and so on with the rest of his family, with everyone else in the world.

All Lance knows about his soulmate is that they’re an artist. How does he know, you ask, if he’s never met them? It’s the careless smudges of paint that appear on his hands and arms, the marks on his face as if they were pushing hair out of their face, intricate ink doodles unfurling on his forearm during school, graphite on the side of his left hand. And, Lance’s personal favorite, when his soulmate paints on their own skin and, unwittingly, Lance’s. He always feels a warm glow in his chest when that happens, feeling especially close to his soulmate.

He can’t wait to meet them. It might be naive of him, but Lance expects great things from his soulmate. A romantic First Meeting, a fairytale wedding, the works. It had turned out that way for most of his family, so why wouldn't it for him?

“Lance,” his twin sister Rachel whispers to him now as he paints her nails while music plays in the background. But he already knew, could feel the invisible paintbrush on his forearm. Lance smiles as he glances down at the dark blue spreading across his arm. He stares for a few seconds more before forcing himself to tear his eyes away and continue his sister’s nails.

“I can’t wait to meet your soulmate,” Rachel sighs, her gaze locked on the paint coming to life stroke by stroke on Lance’s arm.

“Then how do you think I feel?” Lance says with a weak laugh, trying and failing to make it sound like a joke.

“Yeah, I know, just… They’re so talented. I’m really happy for you Lance.”

“Thank you, Rach. But I’m supposed to be making you feel better, so shut up.” Rachel laughs and rolls her eyes, but doesn’t protest.

Lance is giving her a full makeover to help her feel better after breaking up with her boyfriend the day before. It was inevitable, really. Having relationships before meeting your soulmate is tricky. You know that eventually you’ll have to part, but it still hurts. Lance had had relationships as well, and he, like Rachel, always fell way too hard and got way too hurt.

“I just got too attached, you know?” Lance only hums in agreement, having heard this same spiel countless times that day, as well as every other time she’d had a breakup. “I knew we’d have to break up eventually, but I didn’t expect it to… I don’t know.”

“Suck so much?” Lance supplies.

“Yes!” Rachel reaches one hand up to wipe at the stream of tears that had begun to flow, careful to keep her wet nails out of her hair. “Boys suck.”

And suddenly they’re eleven years old again, sprawled on Rachel’s bed after Lance’s first breakup.

...

“I kn-knew we weren’t soulm-mates but…” Lance sniffed, glaring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling as he let his tears freely fall. “A-and it was in th-the cafeteria and everyone s-saw. And he— he laughed at me.”

“Boys suck,” was all Rachel said in response. A sob ripped itself out of Lance’s throat.

Rachel sat up, pulling Lance with her. “Let me do your nails, okay?”

He nodded miserably. Rachel briefly left the room and returned with a bottle of blue nail polish from Veronica’s room. Veronica herself, almost four years the twins’ senior, was not far behind with her makeup bag. When their mother got home from work to find her son in tears while her daughters did his nails and makeup, she immediately set to work on homemade chocolate chip cookies.

And from that day on, it became something of a family tradition. Whenever someone in the McClain household suffered a heartbreak, they’d get a makeover and cookies. It was like an unspoken rule, never said aloud and never questioned.

...

“Yeah,” Lance agrees. “Boys suck.”


	2. Rainbow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! look at me, back it again with another short chapter, mere hours after the first. i couldn't help myself, i got excited from the comments and kudos lol. this chapter is short, but i promise the next one will be longer.

Keith is deaf. Profoundly so. He was born that way. And yet, he knows the sound of music. The sound of voices and instruments coming together to make art. It is, in fact, the only sound he knows.

 

Keith can hear the music his soulmate listens to.

 

When he was a baby, the soft lullabies of a woman he’d never met sang him to sleep. In the early stages of his education, the alphabet song plagued almost every waking hour, not that he understood what the sounds meant with no context. As he got older, the simple songs gave way to music with complex instrumentals and upbeat rhythms.

 

Keith loves it.

 

He’d be lying if he said it doesn’t inspire his art. He could spend hours at a time listening to his soulmate’s music, bringing it to life on paper or his skin. He’d even been known to skip school and other “important” things just because of it.

 

But he would never admit it. He’s terrified to let anyone know just how much he loves someone he’s never met. The only two people he’s ever told were his father, who had died in a fire when he was eight, and Shiro, an old foster brother from whom he’d been separated far too soon, but they had recently come back into contact.

 

And, on the topic of Shiro, Keith is moving to live with him. He’ll hit eighteen in just a few days, and Shiro offered to let him live with him. Shiro is going to pick him up from his current foster home on his birthday and bring him to the apartment he shares with his fiancé, and Keith will finish school at the local high school where his friend Pidge goes.

 

Pidge had been the one to reunite him with Shiro. He’d met them over the internet, and the two became fast friends. Once, about a month or two ago, Pidge had mentioned someone they knew. Someone named Shiro. Eventually, Pidge had managed to get him Shiro’s number, and one thing led to another and Shiro decided that Keith would live with him.

 

Keith almost feels bad imposing on Shiro and his soulmate, Adam, but he doesn’t exactly have many options, and Shiro had insisted. Plus, it would only be until he could get on his feet.

 

Keith looks around his room from his seat on his bed. The walls are bare save for a small painting of Jesus nailed to the cross, a crucifix, and a clock, and most of his sparse belongings are still packed in his bag. He only has a few outfits, and they’re neatly tucked into his dresser drawers. He can’t wait to get out of here.

 

His current foster parent is a sour, extremely religious middle aged woman. He’s only lived with her for two weeks, and he mostly keeps to himself around her. She only seems to be keeping him for the extra money she gets for housing a "special needs" child. Keith doesn’t really mind though, he’s used to it by now. At least she isn’t abusive.

 

Keith reaches into the duffle bag halfway kicked under his bed and retrieves his computer. He’d had part-time jobs at a few of his previous foster homes and had used the money to buy a used laptop.

 

He’s just opening up a chat with Pidge when he hears it. The soft opening to a song he’s heard enough times to be able to recognize. Abandoning his laptop on his bed, he goes back to his bag to dig out his body paints.

 

He sits on the floor and just listens until the song fades out, and another one starts. He waits for a moment to decide what color to use, eventually deciding on a dark blue.

 

Keith can read lips as accurately as can be expected, but recognizing and assigning meaning to sounds is a whole different story. If he saw someone singing the lyrics to a song as he heard it, he could probably figure out what they were, but without it he has no idea what the words in the songs mean. So he chooses his colors based on the feel of the song, not the lyrics.

 

Keith paints swirls of color across his forearm that curve and dance. As each song ends and is replaced, so too are the colors, until a rainbow swirls from his wrist to above his elbow. Lost in a world only for him and his soulmate, he paints until he sees his bedroom door fly open. He looks up to see Mrs. Howard in the doorway, her face growing red as Keith watches.

 

“What are you doing?!” she roars, though what the point in yelling is if he can’t even hear it, Keith doesn’t know. “Clean that paint up immediately! If you got even a drop of that mess on my carpet so help me God I will—” and at this point she turns and stomps out of the room, the end of her sentence lost on Keith.

 

As he walks to the bathroom to clean off his arm, Keith finds himself fighting back tears. He can’t figure out why he’s crying, though. It’s perfectly logical that Mrs. Howard doesn’t want him painting over the carpet. It’s not because she was angry; Keith had dealt with much more violent anger before without crying. He chalks it up to overactive emotions caused by his anticipation for his birthday as he watches the art he created swirl down the drain.


	3. Pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had a but of trouble writing this chapter, but i just had to get it posted before season 8 comes out on friday, so here ya go. lol i wrote a lot of this at school

Saturday morning, Keith jerks awake from a nightmare he can’t remember. It’s dark outside, and the digital clock on the nightstand reads 4:27. He still has a few hours before he has to get up to prepare for Shiro, who plans to be here at noon. Keith rolls over and tries to go back to sleep, but it’s no use.

 

He sits up, stretches, and yawns, staring off into space for a moment before pulling his laptop out from under his bed and opening a chat with Pidge. There are already several unread messages.

  
  


**(3:34 a.m.) Gremlin:** **i get to see u irl today**

 

**(3:40 a.m.) Gremlin: wake up thot**

 

**(4:01 a.m.) Gremlin: oh yea happy birthday**

 

**(4:20 a.m.) Gremlin: lmao 420 blaze it**

  
  


Keith rolls his eyes and types a response.

  
  


**(4:30 a.m.) Mothman2020: what the fuck why are you awake**

  
  


Pidge replies almost instantly.

  
  


**(4:31 a.m.) Gremlin: youre awake too so stfu**

 

**(4:31 a.m.) Gremlin: also watch your fucking language**

 

**(4:31 a.m.) Mothman2020: touche**

 

**(4:32 a.m.) Mothman2020: and no**

  
  


Keith stands up to turn on the tall lamp that serves as the only light in the room, then sits back down. He starts to type a new message, but Pidge beats him to the punch.

  
  


**(4:34 a.m.) Gremlin: wtf**

 

**(4:34 a.m.) Mothman2020: do i even want to know?**

 

**(4:35 a.m.) Gremlin: matt just screamed “CUM GUZZLING THUNDERCUNT” from the other room**

 

**(4:36 a.m.) Mothman2020: …**

 

**(4:36 a.m.) Mothman2020: wtf**

 

**(4:37 a.m.) Gremlin: idk im gonna go investigate**

 

**(4:40 a.m.) Gremlin: hes on the phone with shiro**

 

**(4:41 a.m.) Gremlin: apparently shiro woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so he called matt and woke him up so he wouldn't bother adam**

 

**(4:42 a.m.) Mothman2020: ya that sounds like shiro**

 

**(4:43 a.m.) Gremlin: call shiro and make him come get you now**

 

**(4:43 a.m.) Mothman2020: what no**

 

**(4:43 a.m.) Mothman2020: its not even 5 oclock yet**

 

**(4:44 a.m.) Gremlin: idgaf i want to see u irl and ur both awake so might as well**

 

**(4:44 a.m.) Gremlin: plus its like an hour and a half drive if he leaves at 5 he wont even get there till 630**

 

**(4:45 a.m.) Mothman2020: why r u so insistent abt this**

 

**(4:46 a.m.) Gremlin: bc im bored and i wanna meet my best friend irl and introduce u to my idiot friends**

 

**(4:47 a.m.) Mothman2020: u cant introduce me to ur idiot friends at 8 in the morning on a saturday**

 

**(4:48 a.m.) Gremlin: yes i can ill wake them up and make them meet you**

 

**(4:49 a.m.) Mothman2020: u really live up to your username**

 

**(4:49 a.m.) Gremlin: bitch**

 

**(4:50 a.m.) Mothman2020: i gtg mrs howard just woke up**

  
  


Keith can feel Mrs. Howard’s heavy footsteps as she stomped from her bed to, presumably, the bathroom. As he goes to close his laptop, another message pops up.

  
  


**(4:50 a.m.) Gremlin: good if shes awake then shiro can come get u im gonna call him right now**

  
  


Keith rolls his eyes as he shuts his laptop. After quickly placing it back in his bag, he rolls out of bed and makes to turn the lamp back off so he can pretend to be asleep and avoid Mrs. Howard. Before he reaches it though, the woman in question barges into the room, perhaps a bit more violently than necessary.

 

“I see you’re awake,” she says with an unimpressed look on her face. He opens his mouth to say something snarky in response, decides against it, and forces a smile instead. She doesn’t smile back. “Since we’re both up, I might as well make breakfast. Bacon and eggs good?”

 

Bacon and eggs are not good. She had made hardly edible bacon and eggs every single morning since he’d arrived, and doesn’t seem to have any salt, pepper, or any other spice in her house. He nods anyway.

 

A few minutes later, Keith sits across from Mrs. Howard at the kitchen table, picking idly at his dry, flavorless scrambled eggs and limp bacon. He’s about to brave a bite of bacon when the woman across from him stands suddenly. “The phone’s ringing,” she says before disappearing into the hallway to answer the home phone that sits on a small table. It’s not long before she moves to stand where she can see him.

 

“Well sure you can speak to him, but he won’t hear you,” he sees her say with a slight chuckle. Then she starts talking to Keith, to tell him what the person on the phone is saying.

 

“It’s Takashi Shirogane.” He nods. “He says your friend Pidge—that’s a weird name—called him and said you were awake.” Then she turns and talks to Shiro so Keith can’t see what she’s saying for a second. Keith smiles and rolls his eyes. Of course Pidge would call Shiro.

 

Mrs. Howard nods her head and turns back around. “Your friend is on his way to pick you up. He’ll get here around 6:30.” Keith grins and nods. Then, without another word to Shiro, Mrs. Howard hangs up the phone.

 

***

 

Keith has had his things packed for a while now, but he checks it all again anyway. Predictably, it’s all there. Just like it was the last three times he’s checked.

 

He’s sitting at the kitchen table so he can see the front door. As he’s checking the clock on the microwave for the fifteenth time, Mrs. Howard enters the room. He stands up, but she ignores him and instead opens the door to reveal Shiro.

 

Whatever Shiro is trying to say to Mrs. Howard is cut short when Keith tackles him in a hug. Shiro startles, but doesn’t hesitate to hug him back.

 

Keith doesn’t know how long they stay there like that before Mrs. Howard taps his shoulder  just a little harder than necessary and Shiro is trying to politely extricate himself from the embrace.

 

Keith lets go, but finds he can’t focus well enough to try to gauge what the pair are saying, so he checks his bag once more before slinging it over his shoulder. He impatiently fiddles with the strap while he watches Shiro attempt to make friendly conversation with an uncooperative Mrs. Howard. Finally, he seems to give up and turn to Keith.

 

“Well, you ready to go?” Keith nods eagerly. Shiro smiles and holds out his hand to Mrs. Howard. “It was nice to meet you.” The woman stares at his hand for a moment, then sighs and shakes it.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” She ushers the men out the door and slams it heavily behind them.

 

“I can see why you’re so eager to get away from her,” Shiro says, facing Keith so he can read his lips as they walk to Shiro’s car.

 

“Yeah, she’s not exactly my idea of a good time,” Keith says with a smile, focusing on getting every single syllable right. He can talk, he’s just self-conscious about it due to years of bullying about his voice and mispronounciations.

 

“I can imagine.”

 

They don’t talk much after that as Keith throws his duffle into the backseat of Shiro’s car and climbs into the passenger seat. Keith spends most of the one and a half hour car ride staring out the window and trying to imagine what living with Shiro will be like. What it’ll be like not moving in with complete strangers and actually having friends at school. However, his early morning seems to be catching up with him, and he finds himself dosing off before they reach their destination.

 

***

 

Keith wakes to a stopped car and Shiro gently nudging his shoulder.

 

“We here?” he asks groggily as he blinks the sleep from his eyes. He doesn’t look over to see what Shiro says in response, but out of the corner of his eye he sees the man get out of the car, so he follows suit.

 

He finds himself standing in a cracked parking lot with fading lines, but the three-story building rising in front of him is nice enough. It’s identical to the ones surrounding it, made of brick, and a smudged glass door reveals a narrow hallway and staircase. He’s definitely lived in worse.

 

Shiro taps his shoulder to get his attention, just like he did when they were younger. “We’re on the third floor. Here, let me carry your bag.”

 

The hallway and stairs have ugly maroon carpet, and there is a faint odor of mothballs in the air. Keith follows Shiro up the stairs. By the time they reach the third floor, Keith is panting.

 

“Damn,” he says. “I see how you’re so buff now.”

 

Shiro chuckles. “You get used to it.”

 

He unlocks the door and lets Keith go in ahead of him. The carpets are the same ugly maroon as the hallway, but the mothball smell has been masked the the mingled scents of cologne and cinnamon. The furniture is mismatched, and the decorations on the wall include a few pictures of Shiro and a man Keith presumes to be Adam, pictures of who must be family and friends, and a rainbow flag over the couch. As Keith is taking in his surroundings, the man Keith saw in the picture appears from behind a door with ruffled hair and eyes he appears to be having trouble keeping open.

 

“Takashi?” Adam asks, then holds a hand up to his mouth and yawns. “And…” his eyes suddenly open wide and he grins, apparently wide awake now. He extends his hand, which Keith shakes with an awkward smile. “You must be Keith. I’m Adam Wright. I’m about to make breakfast, are pancakes okay?”

 

Keith nods eagerly. Fluffy pancakes and sugary syrup are just what he needs to break the monotony of Mrs. Howard’s flavorless eggs.

 

While Adam cooks, Keith and Shiro sit on the couch and catch up. Not that they haven’t caught up a bit online, but talking in person is a whole other experience. Keith can hardly believe he’s sitting in an apartment with Shiro and his soulmate. To be completely honest, Keith never thought he’d really see Shiro again, despite the older man’s promise to come back for him. But here he is, and it’s completely surreal.

 

When Adam finishes breakfast, the three of them sit around the table and dig in. Keith was right before, pancakes are just what the doctor ordered. Not to mention the fact that these are the best pancakes he’s ever eaten. They practically melt in his mouth, sweet even without the syrup. Keith can hardly tear himself away from his meal to answer Adam when he asks how it is.

 

“These are the best pancakes I have ever eaten,” are the first words Keith ever speaks to Adam. He’s even surprised that he’s been comfortable enough to talk to Shiro as much as he has. He’s usually too self-conscious to talk too much to anyone. Shiro and his father are the only people he’s ever been able to speak freely around. Keith makes a mental note to work on that.

 

Once they finish eating, Keith helps clean the kitchen. As he stands by the sink and washes dishes, music blooms like a rose in his head. Though it’s quiet and there’s no background music, it’s accompanied by a familiar surge of emotion Keith knows belongs to his soulmate. He guesses he’s hearing the voice of someone they care about. 

 

Keith smiles. He never thought he’d be here, doing something so mundane yet extraordinary as cleaning dishes surrounded by people he cares about and feeling a rush of affection, both from himself and his soulmate. He never imagined something so domestic could feel like  _ this. _

 

He could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mkay so i know tumblr is a train wreck at the moment but if anyone is interested in talking to me or whatever mine is [@thestarsarentreal](https://thestarsarentreal.tumblr.com)


	4. Talk to Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this T-T
> 
> Thank all of you so much for leaving comments and kudos

Lance is awakened from a dream he can’t quite remember by the sound of his phone ringing. He groans, rolls over, and tries to ignore it. No one in their right mind should be calling him this early in the morning on a Saturday. Eventually it stops, and he’s just about to fall asleep again when the harsh ringing starts up again. Coming to terms with the fact that he won’t be able to ignore it, he blindly reaches out and grabs his phone, tapping the screen at random with his eyes closed until he manages to hit the answer button.

 

“Wha’ izzit?” he asks sleepily, eyes still closed against the early morning light coming in through his curtains.

 

“Lance, it’s Saturday,” says a familiar excited voice on the other end.

 

“Damn right it's Saturday,” Lance replies grumpily, finally opening his eyes just long enough to check the time on his phone. “Eight in the  _ morning _ on a Saturday. What is so important that you’re waking me up right now.”

 

“Keith,” Pidge says impatiently. Lance can practically hear them rolling their eyes.

 

“Kee–haa–eef,” he repeats uncomprehendingly, trying to stifle a yawn. It takes him a minute to absorb just what they said. “Oh! Keith! I thought he wasn’t supposed to get here until this afternoon though? Why are you calling me now?”

 

“Change of plans, he’s at Shiro’s right now. Get ready and come to my house as soon as possible. And  _ hurry,  _ Lance.”

 

“But  _ Piiiidge _ ,” he whines. “It’s too  _ earlyyy— _ ” but he’s cut off by a click when Pidge hangs up.

 

Lance considers just going back to sleep. On one hand, he’s tired, having stayed up late having a movie marathon with his family. On the other hand, he had promised Pidge he would go meet their friend. Not to mention, Pidge may be small, but they are vicious. Yeah, he’d better do what they say.

 

He sits up and stretches, wondering if any of his family is up yet. His mom probably is. She likes to wake up early and make breakfast for her family on Saturdays. Sure enough, he can hear her singing in the kitchen as comes down the stairs.

 

She doesn’t notice him as she bustles around the kitchen making breakfast, so he just leans against the doorway and listens. He loves listening to his mother sing. When he was younger, he used to beg her to sing to him. There’s no doubt in Lance’s mind that she’s the one who instilled his love of music that lasts to this day.

 

When she pulls eggs out of the fridge, he jumps forwards and takes them from her. “Here, Mamá. Let me.”

 

“Gracias, mi hijo,” she says, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning up to kiss his cheek.

 

As they cook, Lance’s mother begins to sing again.

 

***

 

Lance rings Pidge’s doorbell. Unsurprisingly, it’s Hunk who opens the door.

 

“You’re late!” Pidge yells from the living room before Hunk can even get out a greeting.

 

“I am not!” he yells back, pushing past Hunk, who just sighs and closes the door. “You didn’t give me a specific time to be here, so that’s on you.”

 

From their perch on the couch, Pidge looks ready to throw the tablet in their hands at him. “I said as soon as possible.”

 

“Yeah, well—” he plops down beside Pidge on the couch, his weight throwing off their center of balance. “I went as fast as I could. You can’t  _ rush _ beauty, Pidge. Well, not that you would know much about that,” he adds with a sly look at his friend, who’s busy readjusting their glasses.

 

“Hunk was here half an hour ago,” Pidge says accusingly with a pointed look at Hunk as he sits down on an armchair beside the couch.

 

“Okay, but Hunk can read your mind, you gremlin.” That earns him a snort from Pidge.

 

“Well, technically,” Hunk pipes in, the first thing he’d said since Lance had gotten there. “They can project thoughts to me, I can’t just read their mind.”

 

It’s true. Hunk and Pidge are soulmates. Platonically, of course. Lance shudders at the very notion that his two best friends would ever date. Nope, Hunk has a girlfriend, thank you very much, and Pidge is firmly aro-ace. Now that he thinks about, the idea of Pidge dating anyone ever freaks him out. They’re like a little sibling to him. God, he hopes they don’t end up dating the friend of theirs that they’re waiting on right now…

 

“Hello, Earth to Lance!” Pidge’s hand waving in front of his face snaps him out of his thoughts. “Anyone in there?”

 

Lance pushes them away, once again knocking their glasses askew. “Sorry, you’re just so annoying I zoned out.”

 

“Dude, that doesn’t even make sense,” says Hunk, but he’s laughing all the same.

 

“Hunk, my  _ man _ .” Lance puts a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Why must you  _ betray _ me like this? We’re supposed to be  _ best friends _ , Hunk. A true best friend would never betray me like this!”

 

“Aww, Lance—”

 

“Ha!” Pidge interjects, practically jumping in Lance’s lap to get in his face. “Hunk could never choose you over me! I’m his soulmate, you’re just a commoner he  _ happens _ to be friends with!”

 

“Oh yeah?” Lance tackles Pidge into the couch and starts tickling them. “We were best friends way before he even  _ met _ you!”

 

“Guys,” starts Hunk disapprovingly, but Lance and Pidge ignore him. Which, in hindsight, is ironic, as he’s the one they’re fighting over. Either way, Lance is leaning over Pidge and tickling them, while they laugh maniacally and aim elbows, knees, hands, and feet wherever they can land a hit. A knee catches Lance in the groin, and he groans and collapses onto Pidge, who laughs and half-heartedly tries to shove him off.

 

Then the doorbell rings, and Pidge is suddenly a caged animal, clawing their way out from under Lance, causing him to roll onto the floor, where he lays, moaning in over-exaggerated pain, as Pidge tears from the living room and into the entryway to answer the door. Lance doesn’t bother to get up off the floor as he listens to Pidge’s excited yells, which he can’t help but think are unnecessary. What’s the point of yelling at someone who can’t hear you?

 

Pidge had already debriefed Hunk and Lance multiple times the last few days on how they should act when Keith gets here. Lance honestly thinks it’s completely unnecessary. It’s not like he’s going to make a deaf joke or something; he’s not stupid. Pidge had told them (but Lance knows it was mainly aimed at him) to not overwhelm Keith (Lance can’t help it if he overwhelms people with his awesomeness), to think before they speak (thinking is kind of required to speak, duh), and that Keith is awkward, so don’t push him (It’s absurd to think Lance would do anything of the sort).

 

He’s still lying on the floor, lost in his thoughts when Pidge, chattering excitedly, leads a dark-haired boy into the living room, the pair followed by Shiro, whom Lance knows because of his friendship with Matt.

 

Keith is not what Lance expected. As in, he’s actually kind of hot. He’s shorter than Lance (though it’s a little hard to tell as he’s still on his back on the floor), with black hair that falls a little past his shoulders. He’s dressed in a simple red hoodie and tight black jeans that hug his legs in all the right places.

 

It takes Lance a second to acknowledge the fact that he’s laying on the floor, and maybe he should get up. He jumps to his feet and extends a hand to Keith.

 

“Hey,” he says with his most charming smile. “The name’s Lance.”

 

Keith tentatively reaches out to shake his hand, a shy smile on his face, but doesn’t say anything. Lance tries not to let that discourage him. He knows Keith can talk—he’d heard him say hi when Pidge had first opened the door. Maybe he just didn’t like to talk much?

 

Lance holds onto Keith’s hand a little longer than necessary, and winks when he finally does let go. Pidge, the love-hating demon they are, takes that moment to walk to the couch, kicking him in the shins as they pass and hissing, “Don’t flirt with my friends, jackass.”

 

“Hey, I’m just—” Lance throws back at them, but Hunk cuts him off by clapping one hand on his shoulder and offering Keith his other one.

 

“Hi, I’m Hunk. Pidge’s soulmate.”

 

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Keith sheepishly replies as he shakes Hunk’s hand.

 

Lance can’t believe his ears. Hunk may be a gigantic lovable cinnamon roll, but how could Keith deem him worthy of speaking to and not Lance?! Not to mention the fact that Keith has apparently “heard a lot about” Hunk. What, did Pidge not even talk about him?

 

Lance brushes Shiro’s greeting off and spends the rest of the morning attempting to goad Keith into conversation.

 

“So Keith, how did you meet Shiro?”

 

Shiro explains. They used to be foster brothers.

 

“How’d you get that scar on your face?”

 

Again, Shiro explains. It was the same car crash that took his arm and left that scar over his nose.

 

“And you’re gonna go to school with us?”

 

Pidge is the one to respond this time. He is.

 

Lance asks question after question, to no avail. Each response that Keith doesn’t give only makes him angrier, until he can’t take it anymore.

 

“So, what? You won’t even talk to me? What did I even do to you, huh?” Lance explodes, jumping to his feet. Keith— and everyone else— just gape at him.

 

“Oh, still nothing to say?” he yells, ears burning in indignation. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” And he turns and storms out.

 

He’s halfway to his car—well, the car he and Rachel share— when Pidge grabs his shoulder and yanks him around.

 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

 

Lance glares at them. Their fingernails still dig into his arm.

 

“Why are you so mad? Is it because I told you not to flirt with him?! What is it?! God, Lance! You’re such an asshole! Did you just ignore me when I was telling you about him?!” Again, Lance doesn’t say anything. He wrenches his arm out of Pidge’s surprisingly strong grasp, gets in his car, and leaves.

 

***

 

“I’m a total dick, aren’t I?”

 

“Well,” Hunk starts carefully, with that look on his face he gets he’s trying to let you down easy. “You were being pretty unfair.”

 

Lance throws his hands up in the air while he paces his room. Hunk watches him wearily from his seat on Lance’s bed.

 

“Yeah, I  _ know _ I was being unfair. I was just… I don’t know! I was mad that he wouldn't talk to me!”

 

“Mad? Or were you jealous?” Hunk asks delicately. Lance stops pacing and stares at him, horrified.

 

“I— what? I’m not jealous! Why would I be jealous?!”

 

Hunk seems to think better of what he was planning to say. “Uh… maybe you’re jealous of Keith because you think he’s stealing your place as Pidge’s best friend?”

 

Lance stares suspiciously at his friend, but he decides to let it go just this once.

 

“It doesn’t matter, just— what am I supposed to do now? He’s gonna hate me forever!”

 

“I think it’s Pidge you should be more worried about, dude.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

Hunk leans back on his hands and refuses to meet Lance’s gaze.

 

“They, uh. Said they’re never going to talk to you again.”

 

Hunk hardly gets out of the way in time for Lance to faceplant on his bed.

 

“Ugh, why does the world hate me?!” he yells into his pillow.

 

“You could start by making it up to Keith.”

 

Lance turns his head just enough to see Hunk. “What?”

 

“You asked what you should do now? Make it up to Keith. Pidge’ll get over it if Keith does.”

 

Lance stuffs his face back into his pillow “And how am I supposed to do that?”

 

“Just try to talk to him, man. And like, be nice.”

 

“But my dignity is ruiiiiined,” he whines.

 

Lance can practically hear Hunk roll his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll work on that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya Lance was a dick in this chapter lol
> 
> If anyone's interested in talking to me and stuff, [follow me on tumblr](https://thestarsarentreal.tumblr.com/)


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